Evangel University EXEGESIS OF REVELATIONS 3:14-22 An Exegetical Paper Presented to Dr. Vincent Medina In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in BIBL 296 Sophomore Seminar By Colton Henning November 2016 Introduction Revelation 3:14-22 starts with John’s presentation of Jesus’s judgements and anger toward a spiritually indifferent community. The chapter is constructed of various letters that were written to address issues in churches throughout the land. A key idea that is introduced in Revelation 3:18 is that God desires people to “buy from me gold refined from the fire” so that they may become rich. The believers of Laodicea were affluent, but blind to their spiritual needs and had become apathetic. God’s act of rejecting them is a result of prosperity that was given and the self-deception that was given into.2 God’s desire to have them next to him was shown by his grace and the opportunity to rise from their sins to sit next to their King. Contextual Analysis Revelation 3:14-22 is written by John to believers in Laodicea who have become prosperous and complacent towards God. Verses 14-22 give a correction so that the people of Laodicea have a better comprehension of how their greed and spiritual lethargy have caused them to become separated from God.3 The context of this letter by John is important because it relates the mistakes of Laodicea’s people to their livelihood allowing for easier understanding. It is alluding the sins to common dining
According to this view, the events in Revelation are not tied to any specific events historically or in future. It reduces John’s prophesies to a one simple ‘big picture’ idea about the continuing struggle between good and evil (Gundry, 2012). Though there is some truth to this summary, the idealistic approach is heading towards the mindset that Boxall warned his readers about. The idealistic view seems to emphasize the analogy aspect of Revelation, as if it was only written to hold devotional value. This approach would be good to use to gain a simple understanding of the overall theme of Revelation, but should not be the sole perspective used to interpret the book.
In Chapter 2 of Encountering the New Testament the author talks about a few of the different practices that unified the Jews as well the different religious groups that had different beliefs. Judaism was unified in the beliefs that they had been chosen by God, they were waiting for the messiah to come, they respect the synagogues, they shared the same laws and traditions of elder. Although these beliefs were unifying there were seperate religious groups and leaders that held different beliefs. Probably the most well known group of religious leaders were the Pharisees. The Pharisees were a small group of religious leaders that believed in God, and the coming messiah. Although many of the Pharisees did live good lives many of them were
B. Explanation of allusion: This is the last book of the New Testament. Unlike all of the other books, Revelation is apocalyptic. It uses visions, symbols, and allegory to predict the future. This book is made up of a series of letters, and is believed to have been written by a Christian leader, John who was imprisoned on the island of Patmos. The basis of these writings were John's vision from heaven that provided comfort to the persecuted Christians ("Revelation").
When examining the Book of Revelation, one gets an impression God is sympathetic towards the world because He shows the heavens in advance. He demands someone to record what is happening so the rest of the world can acknowledge what awaits them in the afterlife. Consequently, John who is invited to Heaven is likewise the author of the Book and uses metaphors and simple ideas to describe what he witnessed on that fateful day .
Comparing and contrasting different written works is a key aspect to discovering truths about the Christian Bible. When we compare and contrast canonical books, we can learn many things about the theology and context in which these books were written. Today, we will be comparing two books from the New Testament: Hebrews and Revelation. While Hebrews is often referred to as an epistle, it is actually more similar to a sermon. Revelation is a book that describes a supposed “vision” from the author John. John wrote this vision down on the instruction of a heavenly figure. While we compare these books, we will specifically focus on their relation to Judaism and their positions on Judaism. We will examine three major difference and/or similarities: Their views on the relevance of Jewish History, the superiority of Christ, and, the Second coming of the Messiah.
John, the proclaimed author of the Book of Revelation, writes intricately about the events that will transpire when the end of the world has come. John expresses messages to seven churches, heaven’s activities, and the Lamb opening seven seals. He depicts the consequences following the sounding of seven trumpets and the pouring of seven bowls. John mentions numerous times that humans will be judged at the throne for their actions. He stresses the penalties of humans who will not proceed to heaven, but will instead die a second death. He describes heaven’s wondrous beauty, and how Jesus himself, promising he will return to Earth soon, verifies that these words are true.
This essay will argue that the eschatology of the Book of Revelation forms an integral part of John’s attempt within the pages of his book to form a literary world in which the forms, figures, and forces of the earthly realm are critiqued and unmasked through the re-focalization of existence from the perspective of heaven. It will attempt to show that, in response to the social, political, religious, and economic circumstances of his readers, the Book of Revelation forms a counter imaginative reality. Through drawing upon an inaugurated sense of eschatology and evocative imagery, John is able to pull the reader in and show them the true face of the imperial world and consequences of its ideology, forcing the reader allegiance to fall
The book of Daniel and the Revelation are counterparts of each other. They should be studied together as to get the whole picture of God’s redemptive plan, world’s history, the future of the world, God’s victory over evil at the end of the world, and a glimpse into the new heaven and the new earth. Even if these two books are different, many parts of the books talk about the same event of world’s history in which we are about to find out. In this essay, I will show how the book of Daniel is related to Revelation and then how John uses the imagery of Daniel. First of all, let us look at the introduction to the books of Daniel and Revelation. I will
The Book of Revelation is the final book in the Bible. It is essentially how the end of the world will happen. Only five chapters are examined throughout The Stand. The Letters to the Churches of Asia are letters to each of the seven churches that
1The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near. – Revelation 1:1-3
10. What is the pastoral value of the vision in Revelation 14:14-20 of John’s readers?
The book of Revelation, written in c. 95 A.D. by John the apostle, was written to Christians who were facing increasing hostility from the Roman Empire, which was beginning to enforce the cult of emperor worship. John had been exiled to the island of Patmos for his activities as a Christian missionary. The book of Revelation is considered apocalyptic literature, a kind of writing that is highly symbolic, but the book itself provides a number of clues for its own interpretation. There are several purposes of the book of Revelation, including encouraging believers by showing the final outcome of God 's plan, showing the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, and revealing Christ in all his glory. John writes to encourage the faithful to resist the demands of emperor worship and hold fast to God 's promises: that the final showdown between God and Satan is imminent, the believers are sealed against spiritual harm and will be vindicated when Christ returns, the wicked will be forever destroyed, and God 's people will enter an eternity of glory and blessedness. In this vision that John receives, he is shown many things about the final judgment to come and the establishment of the Messiah 's kingdom. The vision begins with Jesus giving a command for John to write letters to seven churches addressing problems that are common to most churches across the world (chapters 2-3). Chapter 5 introduces a book, or scroll, with seven seals that represent seven judgments. This begins the
The sermon at the mount is a collection of teachings and sayings that Jesus preaches to people at Galilee. It takes place after Jesus had been baptized by John the Baptist. This is the longest teaching by Jesus in a single preaching. It is found in the New Testament in the book of Matthew. It transverses chapter five to seven of the Gospel of Matthew. The main theme of sermon of the mountain is how people should relate with other people and God. The sermon is preached at a mountain when Jesus saw the crowd and his disciples’ were following him, he sat at a level ground on the mountain and started to preach. The Preaching’s can be divided it four major parts; The Beatitudes, Lord’s Prayer and parables.
The point of this assignment is to discuss the passage chosen, as well as information regarding the historical/cultural background of the passage and applying it to my life as a human being. It is also important that I apply this information on the passage to the Christian life or church ministry. The passage I have chosen for this assignment is from Matthew chapters 5-7 and is labeled “The Sermon on the Mount”. The Sermon on the Mount is the longest and most prominent of the five discourses of Jesus in Matthew. The whole point of the Sermon on the Mount was to show people who converted to Christianity how to live. It is to show how Christians should live in their actions, words, thoughts, and others ways of life. With that being said, this way of life was preached by Jesus Christ as he “went up on the mountain” to deliver his powerful message. The information for this passage is in, of course, the bible and our textbook “Encountering the New Testament”, as well as many other resources on the web that are related to the bible and passage.
A question that has perplexed humans through the ages is if we have the ability to reach God. The witness of Scripture and leading theologians attest that individuals have a limited knowledge of God through general revelation in the natural world. General revelation can provide valid knowledge that there is a God, which aids in the acceptance of special revelation.